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Alexandra Essoe as 'Sarah Walker'

Alexandra Essoe is an actress currently living in Los Angeles. She was born on a sultry evening in September in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to parents Dawn and Csaba Essoe. Her mother was an actress, exposing Alexandra to the torture and elation of theatre at an early age.

Alexandra moved to the arctic wasteland that is Canada and spent the rest of her adolescence trying to stay home from school. After a post-school travel period she settled in Vancouver to begin her formal acting training. Alexandra has worked with the likes of Dennis Hopper, Mickey Rourke, Peggy Lipton and Keith Carradine (whom she managed to talk into playing ‘It Don't Worry Me’ from Altman's Nashville between takes. It was kind of the best.) In her free time Alexandra enjoys playing the accordion and arguing with strangers on the internet. This is her first lead role in a feature film.

Pat Healy as 'Carl'

Pat Healy began his career at Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company, working alongside such luminaries as John Malkovich, Joan Allen, Gary Sinise and others. He has appeared in the films MAGNOLIA, GHOST WORLD, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, RESCUE DAWN and PEARL HARBOR. He has also starred in the acclaimed independent films GREAT WORLD OF SOUND and COMPLIANCE (both directed by Craig Zobel), THE INNKEEPERS with director Ti West and CHEAP THRILLS directed by E.L. Katz. He is an accomplished screenwriter and has written several episodes of the HBO series IN TREATMENT. He wrote, produced, directed and starred in the short film MULLITT alongside his long-time friend Michael Shannon which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. He is currently co-writing a crime feature with E.L. Katz for Keith Calder’s Snoot Films and can be seen in the upcoming films DRAFT DAY directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER opposite Robert Redford.

Noah Segan as 'Danny'

Noah Segan was born in Brooklyn, New York and currently resides in Hollywood, California, grumpily. He once played a cowboy on a soap opera, and also starred in films such as BRICK, DEADGIRL and LOOPER. Noah enjoys boxing, Westerns, collecting wristwatches and photography. His favorite band is "The Replacements" and his favorite actor is Warren Oates, who died, as Noah also plans to do one day.

Amanda Fuller as 'Tracy'

Amanda Fuller is currently starring on ABC’s award-winning TV series LAST MAN STANDING with Tim Allen. She has worked on several outstanding genre films including the independent thriller RED WHITE & BLUE and the SXSW award-winning thriller CHEAP THRILLS.

Born in Sacramento and raised in Los Angeles, Amanda spent the bulk of her developmental years acting and modeling, getting as much experience as she could until booking her first major TV Movie role, TALES OF THE CITY, with Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis.

Fabianne Therese as 'Erin'

Fabianne Therese was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up all over the world, living with her family at various times in Austria, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi, and Palm Springs. One constant in her childhood was a love of theater and film, and since moving to Los Angeles she has pursued her dream of acting with roles that stretch across a variety of formats and styles.

Fabianne recently co-starred in the film ENDLESS LOVE opposite Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde, released by Universal. She also appears in the indie film FRANK & CINDY, opposite Rene Russo, Oliver Platt, and Johnny Simmons. Last year she filmed the lead role of Amy in director Don Coscarelli's film adaptation of the cult book JOHN DIES AT THE END, alongside Paul Giamatti. She was also the lead in the independent feature THE AGGRESSION SCALE, directed by Steven C. Miller.

Marc Senter as 'The Assistant'

Colorado native, Marc Senter’sfirst starring role was that of eccentric serial killer ‘Ray Pye’ in Chris Sivertson’s critically-acclaimed adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s novel THE LOST. His tour-de-force performance garnered him awards for Best Actor (Screamfest and Fantaspoa Film Festival) and critical praise. Marc went on to act in CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER directed by Ti West, and Simon Rumley’s critically acclaimed drama, IFC’s RED WHITE & BLUE, which won Marc his second Fangoria Chainsaw nomination for Best Actor. Marc both starred in and produced BRAWLER, an underground fighting drama directed by Chris Sivertson. He can further be seen as one of the leads in Darren Lynn Bousman's (SAW II, III & IV) THE DEVIL'S CARNIVAL.

Louis J. Dezseran as 'The Producer'

Louis J. Dezseran has been a professional stage actor since 1960 performing with the Champlain Shakespeare Festival , the Bucks Repertory, the Hilberry Classic Theatre, Chimera, Theatre-in-the-Round, Penumbra, A.C.T., Stage One, Actors’ Theater of Louisville, La Mirada, The Crystal Cathedral and the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. He is the author of “The Student Ac tor’s Handbook” and has taught a variety of courses at Purdue University, Wayne State University, the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, the University of New Orleans, Cal Poly-Pomona, and CSU-Northridge. He was the first Artistic Director of Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis, America’s first professional theater dedicated to multi-racial casting and the co-founder (with his wife, Catherine) of the New Orleans Theater for Young People. Lou played the recurring role of Robert on “The Bold and the Beautiful” and has appeared in a number of feature films and shorts. He is a world traveler and a dialectician as well, and counts 34 mid-life crises that have shifted his career focus.

Maria Olsen as 'The Casting Director'

Maria Olsen has acted on stage since she was six, and on screen since 2006, and highlights of her career to date include performing Off-Broadway in Zombie Joe's Underground Theater's production of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and The Masque of the Red Death and on screen in Fox's PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Her latest project is the hilariously horrific feature TROPHY HEADS FOR CHARLES BAND OF FULL MOON FEATURES. She’s thrilled to have been a part of Starry Eyes and over the moon that it will premiere at SXSW! In her spare time, Olsen knits, learns Swedish and eats salty licorice!

Natalie Castillo as 'Ashley'

Natalie Castillo grew up on a ranch in Los Alamos, CA located in the very small city of the Santa Ynez Valley. While growing up, she raised just about every farm animal thinkable. Including cows, horses, dogs, cats, mice, bunnies, chickens, ducks, and her favorite- her parrot, Mango. After developing a deep love for animals, she moved to Santa Barbara to attend Santa Barbara City College for Marine Biology. After 3 semesters studying marine life and feeling this was the direction her life was going; she sat to watch one of her favorite movies, Pirates of the Caribbean. Not moments after the film was over she said to herself, “I want to be an actress.” The fourth semester was a little different. Natalie began looking into film schools while finishing off her general education at SBCC and ended up at The New York Film Academy in LA. After spending a year there studying all acting approaches, she found Eric Morris, a coach who she continues to work with along side his wife, Susanna Morris. Natalie has since booked a supporting role in an independent film, Starry Eyes, a lead role in an independent, Battered, and is currently filming a pilot. She continues to take acting classes on a weekly basis and has recently signed with Heretic Entertainment.

Nick Simmons as 'Ginko'

Nick Simmons starred in the hit A&E reality/docudrama Gene Simmons Family Jewels with his parents, Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed. The show aired for seven seasons. He currently resides in Los Angeles and often sings and works with the popular SBE venue The Sayers Club.

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Reviews

"Starry Eyes presents a fresh take on a recycled Hollywood journey, one that oozes passionate horror love and dramatic, psychologically-charged storytelling. You’ve seen it before, but you haven’t seen it like this"

"Alex Essoe gives a star-making performance with the character, running the gamut of emotions from timid actress, to empowered film star to psychotic killer to something else… All in the space of 90 minutes!"

"It’s somewhat ironic that Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch’s Starry Eyes, a film that literally singles out ambition as the blackest of human qualities, is the most ambitious film I have seen thus far at SXSW this year."

"Starry Eyes" is consistently focused on its heroine and her all-consuming insecurities. Widmyer and Kolsch are smart enough to know that, after a point, Sarah is responsible for her actions since she let her insecurity cloud her judgment. She is, in that sense, always presented as a monster since she's always trying to refashion herself in a way that make an asset of her poor body image. "Starry Eyes" may leave you feeling hopeless, but its bleak vision of masochistic perfectionism is clear-eyed, cogent, and devastatingly unsettling." - Simon Abrams

"Starry Eyes is a finely crafted horror movie and study of one woman's quest to obtain stardom at any cost or opportunity. Here, becoming a movie star is depicted as a literal transformative and transcending process."

''What price fame?'' is not an original question. But writer-directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer break new ground with the horrific answer they deliver. Alex Essoe plays an L.A. actress whose desperate quest for success leads her to a sinister organization. You'll have to watch this skillful combination of occult thriller and Cronenbergian gruesome-fest to find out what happens next. Horror fans should keep their eyes on the filmmakers — and Essoe, who gives a star-making performance."